Logue will run for Senate and Assembly

SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Loma Rica, said Wednesday he will run for Doug LaMalfa's state Senate seat.

LaMalfa, a Republican from Richvale, announced Friday that he was resigning as 4th District senator. LaMalfa had not been up for re-election to the Senate for another two years.

In the Nov. 6 general election, LaMalfa will vie with Democrat Jim Reed for the congressional seat now held by Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico. Herger is retiring at the end of the year.

On Wednesday, Logue sent out a news release stating that he would run for both LaMalfa's Senate seat and for another term as the 3rd District assemblyman. If he lost the Senate race, he could continue in the Assembly if he won that contest.

In a phone interview he said since Friday he had gotten more than 50 phone calls from people in the district asking him to run for the Senate.

He said those who called him appreciate his commitment to keeping north-state water from being sent to Southern California, his support of economic growth, and his fight against "over-zealous" state regulators.

Also on Wednesday, Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, sent out a news release stating he was "formally launching" his campaign for LaMalfa's Senate seat.

Earlier this year, Nielsen said he would not seek re-election to the Assembly because he planned to run for Senate if LaMalfa was elected to Congress. He said by not seeking re-election, he'd save taxpayers money by avoiding the need for a special election.

"The first step to restoring common sense to state government is to defeat Jerry Brown's tax increase and cut up the Legislature's credit card," the news release quoted Nielsen as stating.

Earlier in the year, LaMalfa endorsed Nielsen, saying he was the best person to succeed him.

Logue called LaMalfa's resignation "a maneuver" to help Nielsen in the state Senate race.

"It was about gaming the system for Jim (Nielsen)," he said.

Logue said if LaMalfa had continued in the Senate and won the congressional seat, a special election to replace him would have been held in the spring. Now, the first vote for the seat will be on election day in November.

That means Nielsen will have had considerably longer to campaign than other candidates, Logue said. Nielsen has been campaigning for the Senate seat for months while he and any other candidates who join the race will just be getting started, he said.

Also, by running at the same time as LaMalfa, Nielsen's photo and slogans could appear on political mailers along with LaMalfa's, Logue said.

Gov. Jerry Brown today issued a proclamation setting the special election for Jan. 8, although the primary for the 4th District seat will be Nov. 6. If no one gets a majority of the vote then, the second election will be necessary.

Cliff Wagner, Logue's chief of staff, said there's one other possible complication.

Because of a complaint by Logue, the state Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating Nielsen in connection with a $32,000 donation he made that benefited unsuccessful Assembly candidate Bob Williams of Corning. Nielsen had endorsed Williams.

Right now, Nielsen is accused of "money laundering," and the investigation may continue past the Nov. 6 election, Wagner said.

Probably it would be easier for Nielsen to run "under the cloud of investigation than under the specter of a conviction," he said.

On Wednesday, the Enterprise-Record ran an editorial which called LaMalfa's early resignation from the Senate an "orchestrated ... attempt to get his hand-picked successor into the seat."

Wednesday morning, LaMalfa called E-R Editor David Little and told him the editorial's claim was absolutely untrue.

Staff writer Larry Mitchell can be reached at 896-7759, lmitchell@chicoer.com, or followed on Twitter @LarryMitchell7.